Bumblebee pigment loss

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Jess.moe
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Joined: 09 Jun 2008, 01:35
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Bumblebee pigment loss

Post by Jess.moe »

Hi everyone, i need some help.
my partner and i have quite a few tanks and many fish, so we are not really begginers with fish.
But we have noticed lately something strange happening to your bumblebee. Now, im not sure if its asian or not, so just bear with me.
its in a standard 3" tank. With a variety of other fish ( angels, sharks, syno, pleco, gohst knife, ell tail, African butterfly, ext) and there is planty of hiding spaces. He doesnt look stressed, is active and feeding well, BUT he seems to be loosing all his pigment. his skin is blotchy, the black is disapering and being replaced with an off white skin colour. It doesnt look like the white strippes are expanding, it litterally looks like he is forming blotches of pigment loss that is covering his body. it looks really ugly.
Does anyone have any idea what could be happening?
We are very fond of our bumblebee and dont want to loose him.
Jess
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Silurus
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Re: Bumblebee pigment loss

Post by Silurus »

What kind of bumblebee cat is it? Asian? South American?
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Richard B
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Re: Bumblebee pigment loss

Post by Richard B »

Things like this (verbal or written desciptions ) are often hard to define precisiely - any chance of a photo - a decent picture should allow us to ID the species & say what is up with it
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Re: Bumblebee pigment loss

Post by Carp37 »

I've had something similar happen with my Corydoras weitzmani, which is a similar colour pattern. With these though, they stay faded out most of the time (as Jess.moe says, the black areas fade to an off-white) but then can "switch the black back on" if they get excited, e.g. when they're interested in spawning or sometimes just looking for food. They've been like this for 8-9 months, almost since I got them- I had wondered if it was because the tank gets indirect daylight but very little normal tank lighting, as they're more inclined to show their black when the tank light is on.
Megalechis thoracata, Callichthys callichthys, Brochis splendens (and progeny), Corydoras sterbai, C. weitzmani, CW044 cf. pestai, CW021 cf. axelrodi, Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps, Ancistrus cf. cirrhosus (and progeny), Panaque maccus, Panaque nigrolineatus, Synodontis eupterus
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